At Mercy Hill Church, we’re embarking on a powerful journey through the book of Exodus in our new series “Let My People Go.” This series reveals how God demonstrates His power and love through deliverance, showing us that God is mighty, loves His people deeply, and will have His glory through those who worship Him. As we navigate new seasons in 2025 and look ahead to what God may have in store for us this year, these stories will fuel our trust in God’s faithfulness and embolden us for His mission.
In week two of our series, “The Burning Bush and the Great I AM” (Exodus 3:1-15), we explored a profound truth: In His kindness, God invites us to know Him. This isn’t just about acknowledging His existence but knowing Him personally. My question for you today is, “Do you know Him?”
From Palace to Pasture
The story opens with Moses, now 80 years old, shepherding his father-in-law’s flock. It’s a far cry from his early life in Pharaoh’s palace. With a foot in two worlds – raised as an Egyptian prince yet born a Hebrew – Moses had fled Egypt after killing an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave. For forty years, he lived as a shepherd in Midian, seemingly far from any divine purpose.
While not the point of the sermon or this text as a whole, I want you to take a moment to think about Moses’s age. At 80, Moses was just stepping into God’s purposes. God was giving him fresh vision and a new impact even in this “fourth quarter” stage of his life! In this, I want you to see that fresh vision and impact are gifts God gives us for all of life. For those of you in your “fourth quarter” of life, this truth resonates – just as football teams raise four fingers when the fourth quarter begins, recognizing it as the most crucial period, our later years can be our most significant for God’s kingdom. Reject the dream of collecting shells and playing golf in this season of your life! God has more in store for you in this season than you could ever ask or imagine.
The Drawing Fire
When God appears to Moses in the burning bush, we encounter a profound picture of divine nature. Think about fire for a moment. Fire is both a draw and a dread. Like those nights when we gather around a fire pit, drawn to its warmth but careful not to get too close, God’s holiness both attracts and warns. We were created to be in relationship with Him, but because of our sin, we cannot get close. If we approached God in our sin, we’d be burned up like tissue paper on the surface of the sun.
It’s also interesting that the fire pictured in this text is not consuming anything. Fire is dependent on fuel, but not this one! And that’s exactly how God is! God is pictured as a fire that doesn’t consume because God is dependent on nothing for existence. Unlike natural fire that needs fuel, this supernatural flame burns independently. As Tim Keller notes, “God depends on nothing, but everything depends on Him.” This truth sets our God apart from everything else in existence – while we need air, water, and food to live, He exists in and of Himself.
The God Who Sees
In this encounter, God reveals His heart: “I have surely seen the affliction of my people… I have heard their cry… I know their sufferings.” This remains profoundly relevant today. Whether facing health crises, broken relationships, divorce, depression, anxiety, or major life decisions, God sees, hears, and knows our suffering.
A deep human question also emerges here: Can we trust God when we suffer? The Exodus story answers with a resounding yes. While circumstances may not always improve immediately, God promises ultimate deliverance. As Paul would later write, “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Two Essential Questions
Moses asks two questions that resonate across centuries: “Who am I?” and “Who are you?” When faced with God’s calling, Moses doubts his adequacy – a doubt many of us share when facing significant opportunities or challenges. Whether it’s leading a small group, considering church residency, or pursuing ambitious mission goals (like Mercy Hill’s vision for 5,000 baptisms and 500 baptizers sent to the nations by 2032), the answer remains the same: it’s not about who we are, but who we are with.
Then comes the ultimate question – “Who are you?” God’s response reveals that God isn’t just bringing rescue; He is bringing revival. The Israelites had forgotten God’s name and exclusivity. Revival begins not with our actions but with remembering who God is. He is “I AM,” and He wants us to know He is “I AM.” He is the uncaused cause, the eternal one who has no beginning and no end.
The Mediator in the Fire
The story in Exodus 3 contains a beautiful foreshadowing of Christ. The Angel of the Lord appears in the fire, allowing Moses to stand in God’s presence without being consumed. This points to Jesus, who would one day be consumed on the cross for our sins, then rise to give us full access to God’s presence.
The burning bush confronts us with a crucial question: Do you know Him? Not just know about Him, but truly know Him personally. My charge to you today is to know God. Through Christ, we’re invited into an intimate relationship with the great I AM. Like Moses the murderer, our past doesn’t disqualify us. God’s holiness would consume us in our sin, but Christ’s meditation makes relationship possible.
As we continue through Exodus, may we be transformed by knowing this God who is both transcendent in His holiness and intimate in His love, the God who delivers us not just from something, but to Himself. In His kindness, He invites us to know Him – not just as a distant deity, but as our delivering God.
-Andrew Hopper, Lead Pastor
Watch the full sermon from week two of the “Let My People Go” series below:
